Relationships between tissue contaminant concentrations in a small sample of seabirds

1. The metal and organochlorine contaminant concentrations were measured in a small sample of three seabird species collected from St Kilda, Scotland, UK, and the relationship between concentrations of different contaminants within and between tissues was compared. 2. There was little evidence that the concentration of a contaminant in one tissue was indicative of the concentration in any other tissue. 3. Generally, different contaminants had not co-accumulated in tissues; this was so even for the lipophilic compounds (DDE and PCBs), with the exception of puffin fat. 4. There was a tendency for the species containing the most fat to contain the highest concentrations of lipophilic contaminants and there was some suggestion that the fat in muscle could play a role in determining PCB concentrations.